So seeing the United fans singing the name of the manager and loudly supporting the team even when they have been losing has been an eye-opener for Varane.
“A very good example was the atmosphere at Old Trafford when we were losing 2-0 and we won the game 3-2 [against Atalanta],” said Varane. “The stadium pushed the team. In all the countries it’s very different if you are losing 2-0 at home, the atmosphere will be very different.
“That’s one of the reasons I came here because of the different atmosphere, different feeling in stadiums. Manchester United is special (for that) and in England it’s different in comparison to other countries in Europe.”
Varane was part of the France squad that partied through to the following morning after winning the World Cup in 2018 and ended their celebrations with a 5am game of boules, but at Madrid time stopped for no man.
“After winning the Champions League, the fans don’t congratulate you,” he said. “It was ‘OK, the next one’ after the first one I won. Four Champions Leagues! And they tell me, ‘OK, go to the next one.’ I just want to say sometimes you have to enjoy what you have. It was good!
“A party all together? Some trophies yes, but not always because after, for example, the last Champions League we had the World Cup. Sometimes I wanted to push the pause button, find some time to celebrate.
“That’s why Madrid are special. It’s because of this special mentality too. It’s different. That’s why I wanted to change, not because I don’t like this mentality or because it’s bad. It’s very good, but I just wanted to try something different.”
‘Winning is something mental’
There are, though, lessons that can be learned from Madrid for United, as the club attempts to turn around the alarming decline in form that resulted in the dismissal of Solskjaer and the arrival of Rangnick, who Varane admits he knew little about before meeting him this week.
Varane, who watched most of the defeats from the sidelines with a thigh injury from which he is almost recovered, said: “Maybe it’s about confidence as a group, as a team. Sometimes with Madrid we played very bad, but we stayed calm because we knew our moment was coming and we would kill them.
“I remember games, for example, against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and they were better than us, but we won. This is confidence and we had to build it. Before starting to win the Champions League consecutively, it was not the same. The team had the same quality, but not the same result. So why? It’s something mental.
“If we keep working, the results will come. We have to believe. We have to stay calm and focus on our work. That’s what I say to my team-mates in the dressing room. There’s no other choice.”
Varane is equally confident he can form a successful partnership with Harry Maguire or any of United’s other central defenders: Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly and Phil Jones. United have won all of the games in which Varane and Maguire have both played the full 90 minutes.
“We have complementary qualities,” said Varane, of Maguire. “I like to protect the back of the defence and he likes to go [slaps hands] in the contact. So we can do both, but, obviously, because of our characteristics we prefer some situations and that’s why we are complementary. We can also play with Victor, Eric or Phil, who have their own qualities, so there are many options.”
